Plus, Gunn gets candid about the two designers who quit, why he did his first-ever consultation with the judges (he wanted a designer to be eliminated) and which contestant's mom was "hostile" to him.

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October 18, 2012

by

Kimberly Nordyke

On being called in to consult with the judges for the first time:

Gunn was asked by the judges to share whether he had advised controversial contestant Ven Budhu against doing his signature flower pattern in yet another garment. "That was unprecedented," he said, adding that both he and the director didn't think it would make the final cut. "I had a very dastardly motivation, and my motivation was, 'I can talk to the judges and help Ven go home in this challenge.' It didn't work. It ended up being Gunnar [Deatherage]. If I had known that, I wouldn't have agreed to talk to the judges."

His favorite moment from season 10:

When he went into the workroom during the Babies 'R Us challenge and told the designers they no longer had to take care of the lifelike "robot" babies. "I had never experienced a more joyous moment from them ever," he said.

Gunn said the challenges aren't getting more demanding, but the time the designers are given in which to finish them are getting shorter -- and he thinks that's a problem. "Heidi occasionally talks to me off-camera, 'Why didn't this work better?' My response is, 'Give them more time.' ... There is an ever-increasing level of exhaustion -- physical, emotional, creative and mental exhaustion. It's really daunting. On one hand, the longer you stay on the show, hurray, congratulations! But on the other hand, it's 'Please can I go home?' It's really very demanding."

What he tells the designers before each season starts:

"I have a very serious talk with them about myriad issues, the time constraints and material. Why, if you've never used silk charmeuse before, would you choose it?" He also tells them: "The challenge really begins and ends at Mood. If you don't have what you need and the ingredients aren't there, you are really in trouble."

What he really thought the first time he saw Costa's collection during the home visit:

"I thought it was one of the worst collections [I had] ever seen in my entire life. I was mystified. He is so talented, but the palette was so juvenile, and it was just so junior. ... I thought maybe in a manner of speaking he was pulling my leg and would say, 'Guess what? This isn't it!' I was hugely relieved he passed through the judges' analysis."

On the two designers who quit this season:

Andrea Katz: "She is a fashion teacher. Why would she bolt in this way? In terms of quality and character, what does it say about her, being a quitter, especially when she's a mentor to young people? We gave her the opportunity to come back and tell her side of the story and talk about why she left, and she wouldn't do it. What a weak sister."

Kooan Kosuke: "The Japanese meatball. He was on the threshold of leaving from the moment he walked in the workroom. .... After [a trip to] Mood, he dropped this bombshell that he was leaving, [but] there was no reason to talk him off the ledge. Regrettably, when this leaving is set in motion, you worry about all the other designers. ... Thankfully, no one else did leave."

"The editing of this show is so kind to everyone, and the home visit that was so dramatically edited was Gretchen on season eight. We were playing croquet, and her mother kept knocking my croquet ball across the street into traffic, and I'd have to go across the street to retrieve it. She was so hostile and angry, and I couldn't believe it. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

On when he will leave the show:

"As long as there is Project Runway, I'll be there, even if I'm in a wheelchair or an iron lung."